Mixed emotions about how I feel overall about this race, although overall I can't be upset with my time, just a little disappointed that I hit my aerobic threshold at Mile 2, at the top of a long tough hill! At that point, I realized there was no way I would PR, so did not push too hard in Mile 3, then sprinted the last .1. The race started 30 minutes late because apparently a dump truck had turned over somewhere in the area, & the sherriffs did not want to close road until they were sure that it was not needed for emergency vehicles ... always tough to time being ready to go with a long delay!
I went out faster than I knew I probably should have, but that was the only way I would PR on this course, so I figured I would at least put myself in position to PR by the time I hit Mile 2 marker, unfortunately I had little left at that point. This course was much tougher than the 18:54 I ran 2 weeks ago, so setting another PR was probably an unrealistic expectation. With a tenth of a mile to go, I decided to get in the afterburners to try to catch the guy ahead of me, who turns out was in my Age group ... he had about a 30 meter lead on me. I steadily gained ground & passed him with about 20 yards to go, he tried to pass me back, but I held him off and finished about 1 yard ahead ... we had the same finishing time. Always nice to close out the race with a head to head victory! Mile 1 was net downhill - 5:50 Mile 2 had 111 elevation gain & 69 drop - 6:20 Mile 3 had 111 elevation gain & 89 drop - 6:44 The last tenth had a drop of 10', ran it in 24 seconds, which is a 4:00/mi pace ... I was determined to finish ahead of the guy in front of me & finish on a positive note! Overall Avg Pace - 6:13
I went to run the course a second time at an easy pace, and actually got stomach cramps just past Mile 2 while running an 8:20 pace ... so I definitely was not at Peak performance this morning ... but considering it is only the second time I have gone sub 20 ... and the hills ... I guess the final verdict is I should be happy with my time! PM - 7.5 mile trail run - AP - 9:33 - El gain: 886'
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